Sunday, May 26, 2013

Well this is an update. Last Saturday I turned it in...FINALLY. Wednesday it was judged. I liked them on facebook to find out when we would find out how we did...As i had no idea, having never done this before. So....I waited............and waited.....and thus more waiting. Driving my kids and husband crazy. Then people started posting that they got their results....Now i was really freaking out. i was thinking that maybe the people who got really bad scores, didn't get a scorecard, like your entry was so bad we didn't even want to waste paper telling you so.

So i was so heartbroken.

My poor people, constantly reassuring me that i was going to be ok, that my tatting was good. that they weren't that cruel. be patient. breathe. here's a drink, calm down...ok you've had enough STOP! ok, that last part wasn't true, but it really was how i was feeling. So i checked the page, then facebook...that was my dance. for 8 days. just nervous. My husband checks the mail, its a small joy that i refuse to take from him...so i had to wait. and wait some more. He checked the mail this morning after i picked him up from work....one letter was in the box. He shoved his hand up in the air like Judd nelson (one of my MANY celeb crushes, lucky for me, my husband is very much like him) at the end of breakfast club,

and he starts waving it around....

Heartbroken again.

I just knew that was telling me to come pick up my tatting. That i sucky sucked sucked. I opened it. This is what i saw...

FIRST PLACE!!!!!!! FIRST FREAKING PLACE!!!

I have been staring at this ALL day. I am very much in shock. I am so surprised. Now here is where some stuff comes up...1st. Exclamation mark after beautiful in every way. That's awesome. 2nd. the post noted at the top...well there are a couple photos of the entry. i want to note, that i just got it wet, patted most of the water out and then placed on a bobbin lace "pillow" and pinned a bit. not a lot, but i wanted to point this out to all the tatters.

Sometimes if a tatted piece is all weird, sometimes it just needs to be wet down. Some tatters swear by pinning out and starching, but i really like the simplicity (and results) of water blocking.

So really i just wanted to say, you are going to be nervous. You are going to doubt yourself and your beautiful work. But you should still try. Its SO intimidating when you first start, but now that i know what to do, I am totally going to do it again.

I live in California. Last year, i was inspired my another tatter. Marty. She took many pictures of her work with her ribbons, I thought that i could do that. So i started looking into entering...only to find out that i was like 2 days after the deadline...2 DAYS. So i started thinking. Marking my calender. I waited. I looked hard for the pattern that i thought was very me. Something i would enjoy tatting. I found it. The tatting itself was not hard. Trying to be flawless was hard. And it doesn't need to be flawless. I think i made a total of three mistakes. When i got done with my work, i felt it, that this would be the piece...my very first fair piece. Because we all got to start somewhere.

SO I waited. The first day that registration was open, i hopped on it, like a trampoline. It was a $10 fee. I had the choices of shipping or hand delivering. Obviously if i put in the work, i am going to hand deliver. That day comes, I go in, and i actually meet 2 other tatters. They were both needle tatters and one of them even did cro-tatting. I was so happy. I only caught one of their names...Wilma. So much was happening...BTW never do a thing like this with three kids...they distract from such a big moment. I know that is somewhat horrible, but i literally had my attention split in 9 different ways, headache central. One of those ways was talking to a very cute woman named Stephanie. She is the creative arts director.

See. at the time of me registering, i saw a link...demo at the fair...When you are excited, you are propelled by the moment. this particular moment, i decided to demo at the fair.

I love tatting so much, and i want so badly to share it with people. But i was part of a lace guild, but never went to any of the meetings. SO i never actually met another tatter. So i started getting scared. but this was my first time, So i went from two days down to one...one is manageable, since i have no idea what to expect. So I am making shuttles. and i am going to have a tatting display. History, types, just information.

So

I met 2 tatters. I am going to be demoing. And i am just on a roll. When you try something you put yourself out there...I would never have THOUGHT of demoing, let alone actually doing it. So i am expanding my tatting horizons...and if you could let yourself out there once, good things can happen. So find out what the deadlines are. Try. Even if you don't feel like its good enough...try, because you could find yourself shocked....and now i get to wait again. Wait until July 17th (demo day)...i can't wait to see my work proudly displayed for all to see. That thought is just so crazy. But that's my fair story.